Flexible emergency management: Operational area adaptation during a pandemic

Abstract

The pandemic environment shaped the field of emergency management in 2020, creating a new operational paradigm for Contra Costa County’s coordinated emergency response capability. This discussion represents initial steps in the improvement planning process for the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It offers one tool supporting organizational growth through a critical discussion of adaptation and flexibility in the EOC. Drawing from local, state, and national data, the discussion frames the local EOC experience in the context of how the pandemic intersected with long-established response frameworks. The discussion considers implications for future response to complex expanding incidents. The County operational area applied the emergency management frameworks of the Incident Command System (ICS) and California’s Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) in novel ways, developed innovative solutions to meet critical resource needs, and leveraged new partnerships to enhance capabilities in 2020. Through this experience, the County emergency management organization was both singularly challenged and informed by the pandemic, even as it responded to simultaneously occurring incidents. There are takeaways in each of these areas that bear on improvement planning. In particular the review highlights the need to expand beyond traditional ICS roles and frameworks to facilitate a more flexible response. More broadly, this suggests that the field of emergency management grows more dynamic as it responds to more complex concurrent incidents with an ever-widening spectrum of stakeholders.